Days of rain getting underway

As the rain and temperatures continue to fall, rain may change to freezing rain across the northern Miami Valley. Temperatures are expected to fall to near or just below freezing in parts of Logan, Auglaize, Mercer, Darke, Champaign and Shelby Counties late Wednesday night into Thursday morning. This will lead to slick spots on elevated surfaces.

— A Winter Weather Advisory has been issued for Auglaize, Champaign, Darke, Logan, Mercer, and Shelby counties, in effect from 1 a.m. to 11 a.m. Thursday.

Total ice accumulations overnight could reach one-tenth of an inch with limited viability also expected.

A Flood Watch has also been issued for Butler, Clinton and Warren counties, now through 10 a.m. Feb. 25.

Judge denies legal challenge to tax law brought by Ohio cities

A Franklin County judge today threw out a legal challenge brought by more than 160 municipalities — including Dayton, Centerville and Riverside — to a new state tax law.

The ruling means Ohio business tax filers can file municipal business taxes directly with the state instead of local municipalities. Cities challenged the law as an unconstitutional overreach by the state.

“Everything comes down to whether the General Assembly has the power or it doesn’t. In this case, the General Assembly has the power,” wrote Franklin County Common Pleas Judge David Cain in his decision.

“We are pleased that the court found this law to be constitutional,” Testa said. “It’s an important ruling for business taxpayers in Ohio who for too long have had to deal with this costly, complex process for local tax on business income.”

Businesses that want to file with the state for 2018 taxes have a deadline of March 1 to register through the Ohio Business Gateway.

The state says the change will reduce compliance costs for businesses up to an estimated $800 million if every business filing in multiple jurisdictions takes part, and will improve compliance.

The law applies to the municipal net profit tax, which is worth an estimated $600 million annually. It will benefit businesses that operate in multiple municipalities, allowing them to file one return with the state rather than filing separately in each city where they pay taxes.

The state will collect the money from businesses who chose to file with them, then dispense it to municipalities, charging them a half-percent processing fee.

This amounts to forcing cities to pay for a service they don’t want, according to Kent Scarrett, executive director of the Ohio Municipal League. He said cities plan to appeal the judge’s ruling.

“The real difference is any filer that goes to the state, the municipality that used to review that filing will not be able to review the filing and will have no auditing or review capabilities,” he said.

“Dayton has no way to make sure that filing is accurate.”

Scarrett said the real fear is that lawmakers will expand to start collecting the billions of dollars every year collected by cities across the state in employer witholdings, and may take further steps to control local taxes.

“Once you control the revenue you control a lot of aspects of what happens,” he said. “It’s the state taking over, the state getting bigger, growing in size and eclipsing the powers of our local communities and the decisions they can make.”

250 Dayton STEM students walk out to support Florida school shooting victims

Students say they want stricter gun control laws after Florida school shooting

KETTERING — Nearly 250 students walked out of the Dayton Regional STEM school on Woodman Drive today to show solidarity with their counterparts in Florida after last week’s deadly shooting at Stoneman Douglas school.

The students left the school around noon Wednesday and planned to be outside for 17 minutes, representing the number of people killed in last week’s shooting, according to a spokesperson.

The walkout was for students in eighth to 12th grade, the school said.

A spokesperson said the district supported the students, however staff did not participate in the event.

Students in other area districts also walked out today.

In Tipp City, nearly 200 of the 806 Tippecanoe High School students participated in a walkout that Superintendent Gretta Kumpf said was “in support of safer schools.” “Many of those who participated did so in a peaceful and respectful manner. We support our students’ ability to exercise their first amendment rights,” Kumpf said.